Hate Crime: Pakistani Couple Who Were Dragged Away From Dying Daughter Speak Out [Video]

This happened in England. And now they are finally speaking out.

Two British-Pakistani doctors speak out against the violation of their medical rights and the police brutality they had to face in England. A year after a video of the couple went viral as they were beaten and dragged by police. That too only after a complex legal battle they had to face.

Previously there had been reporting restrictions on the incident as authorities tried to silence the couple. Even now, the couple cannot even name the National Health Service (NHS) hospital trust for legal reasons.

Britain isn’t a progressive poster child right now, particularly since the Brexit decision fueled by sentiments of xenophobia. However, people still expect their right to basic healthcare needs to be enforced.


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What happened?

This sad tragedy began a year ago. Rashid Abbasi, a graduate of Dow Medical College Karachi, and his wife, Doctor Aliya Abbasi, refused to let their six-year-old daughter Zainab off life-support. However, the hospital doctors had the police forcefully take them away as they pulled the plug on their child.

This is no hidden fact that people of color are subjected to discrimination in the healthcare industry. Their symptoms can often be ignored due to biases of the doctor leading to misdiagnosis. They are less likely to prescribe medication their colored patients need, and so on.

“In hindsight, I believe that I would be treated very differently if I was not a Muslim and an Asian. I was wearing the hijab and that mattered.”

Both Rashid Abbasi and Aliya Abbasi are doctors, and they believed that their daughter was responding well to treatment and did not need to be pulled off life support.

However, the hospital doctors had other plans.

“Three days before the attack on us, Zainab watched three TV shows of her choice, …. She was holding my hand and communicating all the time when she needed to. She was communicating through her hand movement and eyes.”

The couple told The News that Zainab had Niemann-Pick Disease and the after-effects of swine flu, which she contracted when she was two. Later in 2018, she had a serious lung infection. Doctors had previously advised the couple to pull the plug on the child but they suggested treatments that worked.

Prior to the police brutality, the hospital doctors had once again wanted to pull the plug on Zainab but the couple said no. They called in the police under the guise of a disturbance complaint that led to a series of civil violations.

“I didn’t want to move from there because I knew that they will take my daughter off the life support. That’s exactly what they wanted to do,… The hospital staff lied to the police that I was being disruptive and aggressive. That’s not true. I was only standing up for my rights, for rights of my daughter.”

Dr. Aliya Abbasi was assaulted first, followed by Dr. Rashid Abbasi. As surgeons for the NHS, they knew this was a violation of their rights by the doctors, not just the policemen. Dr. Rashid Abbasi also suffered a heart attack in the midst of the assault.

“I was told that I should not speak as it was not about me but my husband. I was pinned on a chair by two security guards. They didn’t respect my rights as a member of the public. They held me back with so much force that I was left with bruises on my arms and I had to get medical treatment for the injury caused by the heavy handed security team.”

Footage of the incident was kept under wraps. It took a long legal battle to access the camera footage from the police body cams.

“They used their knees and elbows to hit in my chest, lower abdomen, stomach and legs with knees out of the body cam area. They made sure that they hit my knees and kicked me so that their hits are not captured on the camera. But the camera [recording] of 11 minutes tells the whole story of how I was assaulted.”


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Currently, Dr. Rashid Abbasi and Dr. Aliya Abbasi are seeking legal action against the hospital trust with the help of Christian Legal Aid. They also asked the Northumbria police to apologize or also face legal action.

“We were brutalized by the police but the main blame lies with the hospital staff for telling a bogus story to the police to act against us. It’s the hospital staff that’s responsible for attack on us. We will not rest until justice [is given to us].”

A statement from the Northumbria police affirmed the couple’s belief that the hospital is the main culprit.

“We responded to a call of a man being violent and abusive towards staff and that he had assaulted a consultant.”